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It was decided on Thursday that segments of three downtown streets in Miami will be turned over to developers of the multi-block Miami Worldcenter project. This will include sections of Ninth streets and Northeast Seventh between Northeast Second and North Miami avenues. However, with every radical change there will be expected antagonism.

The plan of the developers for the Miami Worldcenter project is to provide a development that will be beneficial to the public. The streets will be changed into public pedestrian promenades. Alongside of it will rise shops and restaurants. A portion of the Northeast Eighth Street will be revitalized to have broader sidewalks and will be reopened to vehicular traffic. In addition, a large gaping unused portion of Park West District will be put into good use.

According Commissioner Francis Suarez, the city should not be asking for compensation in exchange of the three downtown streets since it is not the city’s property. He further added that he is quite confident that the Miami Worldcenter developers would not create a traffic problem for themselves.

Miami Worldcenter representatives addressed the public that the project will be providing more square footage for public use by providing wider pedestrian promenades and the reconfigured Northeast Eighth Street.

However, there are still a lot of hurdles that the project might encounter due to the closure of the streets. Another planned development might seek to challenge the closure of the three streets, stressing that a series of grave concerns.

Aside from these, there are also questions on about how Miami Worldcenter plans to fund the promised street enhancements. According to developers, they are looking into establishing a special taxing district. From it, a portion of property taxes produced by the project will cover for the improvements of the streets and other infrastructure. The only obstacle as of the moment is to get approval from the taxing district of Miami-Dade County. They have been known to be quite reluctant to develop such methods. Miami is still on the verge on how to act upon the permanent closure of the three streets.

With a lot of hurdles in front of them, the developers the Miami Worldcenter project has been attracting new investors and are continually expanding. There are even plans of building residential towers, a large hotel, conference center, and multi-block commercial center that both includes Bloomingdale’s and Macy’s. The question is, will the project go on or will crumble against all of its obstacles? Many homeowners are also concerned about the effects that this will have on the Miami real estate market.